Rant: That one shutter curtain ribbon on a Pentax 67 that just would not cooperate

Had a Pentax 6x7 come in with a shutter capping issue. Figured it was a simple ribbon replacement, maybe an hour. Wrong. The old ribbon adhesive was basically fossilized. Spent three hours just cleaning the channel with solvent and a dental pick. Got the new ribbon in, but the tension was impossible. Too tight and it jammed, too loose and it dragged. My mentor always said to set it by feel, but I must have redone it fifteen times. The whole job took two full days. Is it better to just replace the entire curtain assembly on these when the glue gets that bad, or is the meticulous clean-out still the right call? What's your breaking point?

2 comments

2 Comments

richardh443d ago

Yeah, that fossilized adhesive is the worst part lol. My breaking point is when the channel itself gets damaged from scraping, then a full curtain swap is faster. If the metal is still good, the clean-out sucks but it's still the right call.

sethr113d ago

You're right about the channel damage, @richardh44. Once that metal is bent, you're just wasting time trying to salvage it. A full swap is the only move that makes sense.